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Staying Cool in the CityTopics: Air Conditioning, Staying Cool We keep cool in the summertime by leaving the windows open and propping the chained front door open to get a breeze. We all line up in the path of the breeze to sleep. All of our windows are on the west side, so I keep the lace curtains and some roll-down straw screens closed all afternoon until the sun stops glaring into our apartment. This seems to keep the place from collecting too much heat. A trip to the roof of our eight-story building (the stairs go up to a large, fenced-in area where we can watch various fireworks displays near and far throughout the summer) to catch a cool breeze before bed works too. I wish we could sleep up there, but there are rules against it. A big basin with cold water on the balcony for foot soaking while star/sky gazing with a cold drink after the kids go to sleep is nice. I have to move all the floating toys out of the way first though. When we know it's going to be really hot, we take the kids to sleep on the floor of the apartment where we have our English school, a few minutes down the street. They enjoy the adventure of sleeping over and we claim electricity for the classroom as a business expense for tax purposes anyway. The classroom is small enough that it is more efficient to cool than our 3LDK apartment. KS << Station Ryokan Seiki | Index | Staying Cool in the Kitchen >> |